


Furtive Purrsuit

by overworkedunderwhelmed



Series: Healed With a Kiss [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Ladynoire, Mayura - Freeform, Mister Bug, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Season 3 compliant, Surprise Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:35:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22963270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/overworkedunderwhelmed/pseuds/overworkedunderwhelmed
Summary: No matter what, Marinette wasn’t about to let Adrien suffer.  Not since she has the power to stop it in her hands.It’s a sentiment Adrien can't help but relate to, especially when it comes to her.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Healed With a Kiss [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1638994
Comments: 118
Kudos: 361





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> With thanks to Kellarhi for beta reading!

Smiling fondly, Marinette slipped out from under Adrien’s arm. She hadn’t expected to see him again—not after their long patrol earlier this evening. But apparently, the fatigue from monitoring the Parisien streets hadn’t stopped her boyfriend from sneaking over and _dropping_ in to visit. 

She chuckled softly at the pun, stretching her arms as she dropped her legs over the side and rose from her chaise. _He_ would have appreciated it… if he was still awake of course.

They’d spent the last three delightful—if achy—hours playing video games while cuddled up together in her room. She had no idea what he had been up to in the few hours since she’d seen him—or what possessed him to stop over—but it had clearly worn him out. 

One moment, he’d been chuckling next to her—cuddling side by side on the chaise, and tucking her head beneath his chin… and the next, he was out like a light. Marinette had been content for a while to just savor his warmth beside her.

Reaching over the back edge of the couch, Marinette ruffled Adrien’s hair before gently smoothing it back into place. 

After watching the soft rise and fall of his chest for a moment or two, she ducked down to press her lips gently to his forehead. She relished the sight of his muscles relaxing under her familiar touch. 

On the cushion beside Adrien’s halo of hair, one of Plagg’s acid green eyes opened to a slit; he watched in amusement for a few seconds before it dropped closed once more. 

Marinette padded across her room. With one last look over at the weary, lonely boy tucked under the duvet she had draped over her chaise, she slid down the stairs from her room and tiptoed into the kitchen. She was on a late night mission: to raid the fridge as quietly as she could. 

Crouching down, she opened the refrigerator door to seek out her prey. 

Marinette grinned as she spotted it in the dim light, grabbing it from the darkest corner of the drawer.

After shoving the drawer closed and quickly shutting the door to hush the hum of the appliance, Marinette spun on her heels to creep back across the floor—dodging the noisiest floorboards along her way.

Happy as she was to spend the extra time with him, Adrien had been quiet tonight. Too _suspiciously_ quiet. Even while he was gaming, he’d been far more subdued than the boy she knew so well.

Frankly, what was bothering her most was the fact that Adrien had been a little _too_ reticent to head home. 

Sure his room was empty, but she knew he was still very careful about following his father’s orders, even while he was out of town on travel. They had spent many, _many_ hours chatting via video call just to keep everything within his father’s rigid rules.

Shaking her head, Marinette climbed back up the steps to her room, prize in hand. She didn’t bother with the careful stealth she’d been using downstairs—it wouldn’t matter much, not when the most sensitive ears in the house were currently the ones she _wanted_ to perk.

Crouching down beside the chaise, she lay her hand out flat, offering the choicest morsel of Camembert she had stashed away for emergencies; unless she’d missed her guess, Marinette was pretty sure this qualified.

A soft snuffling sniff was the only sound in the room before glowing green eyes shot open—before the curious Cat Kwami zipped towards her unrepentantly. 

“Now, Plagg,” Marinette smirked, teeth gleaming in the darkness as she sat back on her heels. “Tell me _everything_ he’s trying to protect me from…”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With thanks as always to Kellarhi! 
> 
> Today has been a crazy day for me. I have a procedure tomorrow that's been worrying me, and she was an absolute sweetheart for helping me to get this chapter posted to help distract me. 💖

“It’s going to cost you,” Plagg’s glowing green eyes narrowed, peering over at ethereal blue emanating from the tiny bed beside her own.

Marinette crossed her arms, unfazed. She peered back and forth between the pair of Kwami. “Name your price.” 

His gaze didn’t move—not immediately. “Get me a bit more cheese. The _good_ stuff this time.”

Rolling her eyes, Marinette slipped back downstairs.

She couldn’t kid herself; this wasn’t about Plagg being greedy.

Or at least… not _entirely…_

She pushed herself, this time knowing exactly where to go, skipping adeptly to the right floorboard to avoid alerting her parents.

Rushing to get back upstairs, Marinette moved with all possible speed. She _really_ wanted to hear what they were talking about.

“You’re sure, Plagg?” 

Marinette frowned, her hand resting on the trapdoor, ready to push it open.

Tikki sounded weary.

“As sure as can be, Sugar Cube.”

Marinette smacked her hand over her mouth to keep from giggling at the pet name.

She slipped back through the door to her room. In spite of how close the two Kwami were, in deep conversation on her desk, Tikki’s eyes were distant.

_That_ didn’t bode well..

Plagg took the proffered cheese—aged sharp cheddar—quite readily, gleefully devouring it whole. It wasn’t the best cheese in the house, but she had been right on her hunch. He had only really wanted to consult with Tikki first.

“You’ll have to forgive him, Ladybug.” Plagg chomped noisily.

“Forgive who?”

“Adrien…” Plagg swallowed the last bite whole. “He really just wanted one more night… to pretend that everything hadn’t changed.”

“What could he possibly have done that was so bad?” Marinette’s arms crossed over her chest.

Plagg sighed, his voice growing even more hushed. “It wasn’t what he did. It’s what we both fear he _hasn’t_ been doing.”

Silently, Marinette pulled up her chair to her desk.

“You remember the _big_ battle, a couple weeks back?”

Her brows rose. “It’s been a little hard to forget...” It had run overly long—well past dinner—and sent them both halfway across Paris. Passing lies to teachers was one thing… trying to fool her mother, who was wondering why she was hours late for dinner, was another thing entirely.

“Well,” Plagg started. “After that battle, the kid turned straight home. He had noticed the purified butterflies on occasion before, only this time—with _this_ butterfly—he saw that it had been headed in the same direction for the entire trip home. He didn’t pay it much mind at first, … but when it started to loom around his home, he grew wary. Enough to tell me all about it as soon as he detransformed.

“From then on, we’ve both been watching the butterflies closely. Adrien was sure they were following him.” Plagg hovered from one edge of her desk to the other, and back again. “He feared his identity might’ve been exposed, putting his father and Nathalie at risk. And that would only lead back to you. So, for the past few nights, he tried to head them off… only to notice that, no matter _what_ he did, it didn’t change the purified butterfly’s path.”

Marinette’s brows rose, darting over to match Tikki’s gaze. 

Plagg nodded. “We both figured that could only mean they weren’t coming back to the mansion for Adrien. Which only left one, far less palatable conclusion.” 

She paled in the darkness. “It wouldn’t be the first time I thought as much…” she whispered. “But how—”

“That much, I can’t tell you,” Plagg confirmed, nodding back to his slumbering chosen. “Adrien has thrown himself wholeheartedly into research ever since. His father’s travel absences lined up perfectly with the lull in the Akuma attacks. He checked his very thorough schedules, just to be sure. Referencing the calendars made him realize that there was something else we hadn’t considered.”

Marinette blinked for a few seconds before realization struck. She clenched her jaw, gritting her teeth. “ _Mayura…_ ”

Plagg nodded sadly. “Mayura was out sometimes during some of Hawkmoth’s absences. That was one of the things the Ladyblog made super clear. The kid and I both knew that his father’s secretary didn’t always travel with him. So, after patrol this evening, Adrien got it in his head to check in on her after getting an alert from the Ladyblog that the villainess had been spotted. He knocked at Nathalie’s door, under the pretense of scheduling a date on his calendar… but that confirmed she wasn’t home.”

Marinette exhaled sharply, her shoulders slumping as she leaned back in her desk chair. 

“That’s why he was so sure,” Plagg confided. “He’s been so afraid that he _let you_ down. He knows that he should have been watching far more closely—that he shouldn’t have let his duties end when the battle did…”

“Silly, Kitty…” She breathed, peering back at Adrien as he tossed, fitfully. Why didn’t he understand she couldn’t possibly blame him? 

These powers took so much of their time and energy… it was easy enough to tune it all out just to scramble back to where they were supposed to be and pretend to be none the wiser.

“The big question,” Tikki murmured, finally breaking her silence, “is just what are we going to do about it…”

* * *

LadyNoire took to the skies. 

She was mad; she was reckless.

Maybe it was the suit. 

_Maybe_ it was the fact she was only just coming to terms with the fact that her boyfriend’s father seemed to be a total _psychopath_ who had been terrorizing Paris for years now.

She exhaled sharply, struggling to fall into an easy rhythm while vaulting towards the Agreste manor.

Tikki had outright refused to take any part in this madness. But Plagg? Plagg wanted to lend a helping paw to punch the smug, sanctimonious smile off of Gabriel Agreste’s face.

It was bad enough that they had been thrown off the scent purposefully for so long, but she seethed knowing that their enemy had been so close this entire time. Marinette couldn’t abide the thought of Adrien staying in that house, unprotected. 

She didn’t trust his father—not so far as she could throw him. And despite having Kwami help, she wasn’t sure she could toss him as far as she wanted to right now...

She hated that she’d been right, all those months ago. She hated that she’d given the man back that book.

_Hated_ that she’d idolized his work.

The only truly good thing to have come from him was Adrien.

And Adrien—at least—was becoming his own man.

A _good_ man.

No thanks to the father who’d locked him away and tried to toss away the key.

But they’d lost years—and handled far more burden than they’d needed to—when she had actually had Gabriel Agreste figured out, all along. At least until he’d apparently Akumatized himself to throw them off the trail.

She didn’t blame Adrien; she couldn’t. Not after she had watched him struggle, day after day, to learn things she already had as a child.

She’d watched him crave the love and affection of a father who was disinterested at best, despite occasional outward appearances.

He should have been _protecting_ Adrien.

Instead, he had paid for his care… and given very little more than that, except for grief and pain.

And to what end?

She _had_ to know...

* * *

Mayura was standing guard in the roost that sat atop the mansion, peering through her veil. Noticing Adrien was gone, she was just about to go out and organize her own search party. The cameras had confirmed he hadn’t come home, and she was sure they’d hold down the fort in her absence. 

Although she’d notified him, Gabriel had waved it off, thinking his son was far too unfocused on the trivial details of his teenaged hobbies, classwork, and silly notions of boyhood love.

Her purple eyes narrowed as she considered his empty room. She had already been suspicious, noticing him lingering around the halls aimlessly. Things hadn’t gone well when Adrien had grown curious before...

When an intruder appeared, headed for Adrien’s side of the house, she leapt down from her post. 

The moment the interloper alighted on the open window sill of Adrien’s room, Mayura struck with ruthless instinct. Surprised acid green eyes turned to face the attacker, and one clawed arm anxiously lifted in defense. 

Wielding her wicked fan like a weapon first (and asking questions later), Mayura hacked and slashed, using the bared feathers to chase off the overly large cat, like a mama bird guarding her nest.

She hissed as the _pest_ immediately vaulted away. 

Mayura peered down—a streak of crimson was stained along the edge of her fan, and she grinned darkly.

At least she had gotten a good scratch in first…


	3. Chapter 3

As awareness slipped back into his mind, Adrien reached out instinctively. Blinking, he pulled back his hand, confused to find only an empty space where Marinette had been.

“Not that one, Tikki.” A hushed voice echoed through the darkness from the other side of the room.

A relieved sigh escaped him, anxious tension ebbing away from his muscles as the familiar voice quelled his sleepy mind; at least she was still here...

“How on Earth does he even do this with claws…?”

Adrien’s eyes shot open at that. _Claws?_

“Carefully, I’d imagine,” Tikki sighed mournfully, before diving back into the tiny box on Marinette’s desk. 

His grip on the cushion tightened when he saw those glowing green eyes blinking in the dark—the very same ones he usually spotted in the mirror.

Well, _spotted_ wasn’t the right word…

His mind was molasses slow, creeping forward to tie the disparate threads together. _Why was she borrowing Plagg’s form…?_

“They’re getting stuck on the tape…” Marinette murmured, her voice a bit deeper, richer in the dark. “Ugh…”

 _What tape…?_ Rubbing his eyes, Adrien sat up, his brows furrowing as he peered across the moonlit room. “What’s going on?” 

She flinched, straightening over the remains of the first aid kit. 

Glowing, piercing green eyes shot up to meet his.

“Marinette?” he murmured, leaping up from the chaise, stumbling towards her in the darkness. “What happened?”

She smiled up at him softly, as his fingertips slipped into the neat braid. “Nothing you need to worry about…”

His eyes searched hers, feeling utterly blind in the dark. He gently pressed his palms against her cheeks, cupping her face.

LadyNoire winced, hissing sharply. “Yeouch.”

Tikki scrambled, diving back down into the first aid kit… “You’ve got to cover that cut, Marinette.” 

“What cut?” His eyes struggled to focus in the moonlight, his hands shifting to hover just above the marred skin before settling on her shoulders. “What happened to your face? Are you okay, Marinette?”

She exhaled sharply. Even without his sensitive ears—even without the familiar cool weight on his finger—he felt that gasp in his bones. 

“It’s nothing, really.” Stubbornly, she pressed the gauze pad to her face. “I will be fine…”

He shook his head. “Marinette? How did this—” 

Those glowing green eyes pointedly shifted away from his gaze, fidgeting with the tape still sticking to her claws. 

“Marinette,” Adrien narrowed his eyes, blowing out a ragged breath. “You went over to my house, didn’t you?”

Her heavy sigh splintered the darkness. 

Slamming his eyes shut, Adrien took a half step backwards. “I knew I shouldn’t have told Plagg—”

“You can’t blame Plagg, Adrien. You _knew_ I wasn’t going to let him keep your secrets… not anymore.” She blinked at him, slowly—devastatingly. Then, she leaned in to fill the chasm of space that had been opening up between them. “Not when it is hurting you, _Minou…_ ”

“You think I’d want you to get hurt in my place _instead_?” He shook his head, incredulous. “That’s the last thing I’d ever want.” 

LadyNoire was quiet, her smile softening gently as she pressed her forehead to his. “I know.”

His heart felt like a vise in his chest, his fingers rubbing comforting circles across her shoulders. He should have never thought to have kept her in the dark.

“Who?” He breathed, finally.

“Hm?” 

“Who did this?”

LadyNoire’s eyes dipped away in the darkness. “Mayura.”

Frantic, he scrambled for her desk… grasping around for the smaller box. If she was wearing Plagg right now, then she must have left them somewhere safe. 

“She’ll be looking for Chat Noir…”

“You don’t know that. Mayura—she’s smarter than that. Scary smart.” He frowned, quickly drawing the lines to the risk. His gaze tripped around the room, furiously hoping for even a scrap of inspiration she so often possessed, growing more desperate to find that previous box by the second.

LadyNoire chuckled darkly. “And you’ve just had to hide it all, sneaking under their noses all along. It’s a miracle you weren’t caught earlier.” 

_There_. Adrien grinned, watching as her eyes darted, instinctively to the drawer of her desk.

As she spun on her heel, pacing the floor, he practically dove towards it.

“I can’t let you go back there unprotected.” She vowed. “I won’t…”

Without hesitation, he pulled the box open, palming the earrings. “I can’t take that chance, Marinette. Not with your safety.” 

Her hand slipped up, tracing his jaw line ever so carefully with her claws as he slid the earrings into place. 

He closed his eyes, trusting her claws not to prick his skin as he leaned gently against her hands—hands that already carried far too much burden. “You’re much too precious to me…”

The harder edges of LadyNoire’s eyes softened, pupils slitting wide. 

“Tikki,” he called out, eyes never breaking with his partner. “Spots on.”

The rush of red light had hardly even fallen before his hands drew her closer, pressing sweet, reverent kisses across her face. 

She was _amazing_. 

Mister Bug inhaled deeply, pressing his lips to her forehead, brushing away the dusky bangs. Imbuing his every touch with the depth of his feelings for her.

 _No one_ else had protected him as she did.

He chased down her mask, lips grazing the cherubic, wrinkled up tip of her nose.

 _She_ had walked right into the fire for _him_ …

But she’d been burned.

His mouth settled beside the airy brush of freckles dusting her cheek, and his eyes finally slid open. Watching… waiting… _pleading_ for the skin to heal.

He was treating her as if she were made of glass. And, though he knew exactly how much abuse Plagg could take, he doesn’t want that—not for her.

He loved her too much for that.

Mister Bug’s eyes slid closed—this had to be his fault. He wasn’t enough. He wasn’t powerful enough to help her to heal. He wasn’t enough to _protect_ her. 

He was supposed to be her shield, darn it! Gritting his teeth together, he pulled away. “It isn’tworking...”

Repentant, his gloved fingers slipped her long hair loose on the braid.

“Don’t worry, Minou.” Her hands fell lightly atop his shoulders… her lips barely catching the corner of his as she pressed up onto her tiptoes.

Her lips curved upwards, and she pulled him back over onto the chaise. He was helpless to do much else but follow her lead—anywhere it might take them.

She tugged him down, beside her on the cushions. “A little bug once told me that practice makes _purr_ fect.”

His eyes widened. The slightly irreverent mischief and lightness of her tone was going a long way to ease the brunt of the weight off his shoulders. 

Silently, Adrien renewed his own promise to protect her. He always had, and he always would—no matter what. “You do what you do best. Plan.” He gulped, hugging her more tightly. “I'll… figure this out. Somehow.”

“I know you will,” she purred, happily. She nuzzled her head against his chest as he pulled her closer into his arms on the chaise.

Breathless, his lips met hers desperately. He poured his every hope, every feeling, every breath for her into that fervent touch.

LadyNoire smiled against his lips, returning his kiss with equal measure.

It might never be safe for him to go to the home he’d known again.

But then again, maybe he wouldn’t have to.

Here—in her arms—he would have all the home he ever needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in getting this out. My procedure has been taking an awful lot out of me lately as I try to heal up.


End file.
